After introducing a few handhelds for their more advanced and pretentious customers, among which the Samsung i760, Verizon customers will soon be able to enjoy a more entry-level phone from the Korean manufacturer.

Yes, in fact, this actually is one more of those easy-to-use, convenient phones for more basic users who don't really want or need more advanced features. The Samsung SCH - U340 keeps it simple and offers a set of useful, down to earth features like Calculator, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Notepad and World Clock.

It comes with the elegant and compact clamshell design often found in Samsung phones and also includes features like speakerphone, MMS, Advanced Speech Recognition and a web browser. Equipped with a 128 x 160 pixel 65k color internal display and a 4 color external display, the mobile phone measures 89 x 46 x 20 mm and weighs 91 grams, which doesn't make it very bulky or inconvenient when being carried around.

It will work for approximately 3.5 hours of talk time and just around 200 hours on standby mode and CDMA dual-band and analog network support will provide users with coverage for clear signals almost anywhere they are. Although the phone does not include Infrared or Bluetooth for connectivity, the SCH - U340 offers a decent set of features for a pretty affordable price, targeting users who aren't very interested in anything other that functionality, or in paying more on a mobile phone.

Samsung SCH - U340 was scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2007, so it won't be long until this entry-level cell hits the stores. Although there is no information regarding the price so far, the phone bearing the 'entry-level' tag means that it will be an affordable device.